About Me

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Chicago, Illinois, United States
just picking up where i left off years ago. read along, and you'll find out :D

Sunday, September 13, 2009

last goodbyes, no misses

me went, me saw, me likey!

let’s backup and bit and retrace some parts i almost forgot about ahaha

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seems like its been a long time since i’ve posted a picture of myself heh

before leaving Miri for Selangor, i wanted to make it a point to see most of my friends before i left cause hey, i’m not planning to come home any time soon, not even during my breaks and there’s always a possibility of me never coming back ever again. but hey, i’m still praying hard about that and i’ll follow God, wherever He leads me.

DSC00974my stupid half-Siamese cat that does nothing but eat and sleep all day, seriously
he/she’s one of the reasons why i dislike cats

for lunch, i met up with Aunt Vivien along with her son, Aaron Yung and it was a much needed meet-up actually. a much postponed one too heh. as always, whenever the both of us do meet up, there’s ALWAYS not enough time to catch up with things going on in each other’s lives. that afternoon, we chatted for more than 3 hours and i was even charged 2 parking tickets for over-time-parking my car cause i got so lost in the conversation haha! the advices you given me, the outlooks and different perceptions to christianity and people you’ve shared, the rants and dissatisfaction you’ve made known to me, the laughs and inside jokes we’ve had over the years, you cradling me even when i was a baby, seeing me grow up into the nearly 20 year old self that i am today with your very eyes throughout the years, defiantly telling me off with all the justification you had, saying, “Moses, without a doubt i have complete trust in you that you will be able to take care of yourself all the way in the USA” after hearing my story and most important of all, being the best earthly emotional support i’ve ever had :]

Aunt Vivien,”Moses, remember that i’ve told you before that you’re like a son to me?”
Me, “yeah, i do. and i’m but ONE out of the many you apparently have right?”
Aunt Vivien, “yes, but you’re the oldest son in terms of maturity that i have”
(really, Aunt V, this made me smile so so wide inside :] i love you)

met up with a few of my high school friends for some drinks as well and they were from my class, mainly Terinder and Belinda. really glad that nothing’s changed much between us 3 tho. altho Bel and I haven’t hung out since CNY and Terinder since Form 5, we caught up so well and enthusiastic about each other’s lives, how screwed up things actually get in each other lives (esp with family members) and we relentlessly talked about anything, everything, and everyone around us :] just gotta love them

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this would be Terinder and he’s still being the boss as always haha
sry Bel, no pic of you cause u looked… you know… and i didn’t feel too good about taking any photos of you then :]
we’ll take loads once i get back!

DSC00984 being random random random ahahaha!

even made it a point to watch G.I. Joe with my lil bro Mark but felt kinda bad cause i invited Aaron, Abel and Janet along but hey, i still did have a great time with both them and lil bro Mark :]

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started wearing this beanie around whenever my hair’s all messed up and wild haha
and i love the beanie and the person who gave it to me to bits
muahahahah!

when did i start taking pictures of myself - popularly known as cam-whoring?
i was rotting for 9 months in miri, go figure :]
but only started taking pictures of myself a month ago ahah
and no, i dont have an album of myself
i take
and delete :)

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fatboy Vincent whom i met at the cinema and he’ll prolly hate me for calling him fatboy ahahah!

one of the best times spent would have to be with these 2 peeps tho

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James and i go wayyy back when we were both 9 and met in Grace Methodist Church. and Karen? we both go back to when we first became friends in primary school when we were 12. and James and Karen? they were both classmates throughout their 5 years in high school lol. Karen and I? we were both in the Marching Band and i was under the tyranny of Karen as the Percussion Leader and her the Band President. James and i? we both were roommates for a year when we headed to Taylor’s College to study with James in the South Australian Matriculation Prog and myself in the American Degree Transfer Program; we were RIDICULOUSLY crazy together, drove each other mad with conversations, screaming and howling like wolves and going out for eating and gaming sprees!!

James? you will always be the guy who got me into playing DOTA and getting out of it afterwards with me hating the game so much cause you kept pounding the crap out of me for being the worst player ever :]

Us three? we were all in our high school’s Prefectorial Board and also in its committee board with me as the Head of Assembly Emcee (the guy up on stage heading the assembly with the mic? that’s me), James as the Master Discipline for the Prefects (his job is to catch Prefects ahaha) and Karen as the Headgirl for the whole Prefectorial Board (hence, increasing the reach of her reign of tyranny and me having to carry out more orders aside from the ones i get from her in Marching Band ahaha!)

Karen? you’ll always be the girl i had a crush on before for the longest time in high school, i think ahaha! and you’ll always be the girl whom i went to to try to comfort whenever you broke down in tears or anger whenever leading the Marching Band. i don’t blame you, it WAS hard and even i would’ve broken down then :]
and you’ll also always be one of the very few Christian sisters i hold closest and dearest to me :]

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the three of us has changed a lot since high school. those of which who knows me since then would’ve known how much of a showoff i was, which unavoidably turned me into a walking target for pretty much everyone in my class. let’s just say i was so bad in character that i had no friends in Form 1, only a handful in Form 2 (where i started working and changing in terms of character) and started gaining friends and trust from more people when i was in Form 3 (it wasn’t easy then really. actually thought of suicide a few times heh). the current me? well… that’s up to you to judge really. i’m all ears!

James was pretty much a really prideful and overly-cautious of the people around him kind of guy. it was really hard getting thru to him back then and it was kinda hard even when i lived with him as a roommate in Taylor’s. but God pulled thru and i managed to get thru to me, and him to me. we shared and opened up completely (i think) to each other about our lives and from there, it was very much by God’s grace and plan that we were paired up together as roommates because we became each other’s spiritual and emotional support when away from home. we became brothers. we still are :]

Karen back then was pretty much an emotional wreck when it came to stress (altho she’d prolly deny it ahaha) and even lashed out at me sometimes when good-hearted me wanted at least be some kind of emotional support for her (albeit having ulterior motives of somehow wooing her into liking me and such, IN WHICH is a very very very very bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad thing to do). now, it quite obvious that she’s grown in maturity and hopefully (i don’t know about this) not much of an emotional wreck anymore heh. otherwise, she’s pretty much the attractive girl she’s always been to me, in her own special way.

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we met up together one last time for dinner and man, when i finally got a good look at Karen, WHAM!  SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION FROM NORMAL-GOOD-LOOKING KAREN TO REALLY ATTRACTIVE LOOKING, PRETTY, SLIMMED FRAME, LOVELY SMILE, TOTALLY GORGEOUS LAYERED-CUT SHORT HAIR, WITH 3 INCH HEELS (WHICH MADE HER SINFULLY TALLER THAN MOI) AND A BRIGHT PERSONALITY TO BOOT. owh, and don’t forget the sudden boyfriend in her life, she’s not lesbian after all YAY! man, she was practically the most attractive girl-friend that i have so far! ahahah! be happy, Karen :]

the three of us talked a lot mainly about relationships that night and i don’t have to say anything about it here, but Karen? i really do hope that you’ll experience what we talked about at your own pace, His time and it’ll definitely be something you’ll see for as precious and never let go of :] i’m praying with all the love i have for you, as a lil bro and of course with the love God has for you too :]

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Nai Yek’s a friend who works at the computer shop i always go to to buy computer hardware and honestly, i hardly spoke to him back in high school. but having not seen or heard from/of him since Form 5, seeing him again opened up long conversations and sharing with each other about what’s happened since Form 5. so whenever i head over to the shop, i’d chat with him for quite some time, asking about each other’s background and sharing advices. all the best for the baby hey. better let me carry him/her after i get back from USA!

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random pic: one of the Long Johns i bought for winter in Michigan in One Utama heh

lastly, the night before i left, i drove over to Alyssa Jaren’s house and chatted for quite a bit, listening to her rant about her SPM trials (HAHAH!) and so on, talking about Michigan, getting bitten by loads of mosquitoes and so on. and cause her dad locked the gate and we both have always pretty much been generous with hugs for each other, we hugged each other goodbye thru the bars of her house’s automatic gate anyways ahah! and yes Alyssa, i know you miss me and i miss you too :]

after that, i headed over to Aaron and Abel’s house. the 2 guys i first came to know are “brothers from another mother” lol! joked, crapped, laughed and teased each other for quite a bit before i left and honestly, i know that they both won’t miss me one bit.
why?
that’s cause we have a bond, a relationship with a clear definition of love and care for each other where we all know that even if we don’t see each other for quite some time, when i do come back and we get together, we’ll still laugh and rant all we want together, strangerless amongst each other, but brothers always, as if i never left :]

preparation completion

me went, me saw, me likey!

i flew over to KL 3 days before my flight to finish up on my overseas shopping needs and to visit grandma.

DSC00002this was when the camera shop tech took a pic of myself to show me the specs cause dad bought me a…

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Sony T90!!!
and i chose the silver one!!
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kinda lazy when it comes to talking abt the specs so here:

Style: Ultra Compact
Megapixel: 12
Resolution: 4:3, 16:9, 3:2
File Formats: JPEG
Memory Cards: Memory Stick™ Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo™
Zoom: 4x
Focal Length Equivalent: 35 – 140mm
Shutter Speed: 1 to 1/1000 seconds
Aperture: f3.5 - 4.6
Sensitivity: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
White Balance Settings: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent1,
Fluorescent2, Fluorescent3, Incandescent, Flash
Exposure Compensation: -2EV to +2EV (in 1/3EV steps)
Viewfinder: No
LCD Screen: 3 inches
Flash Modes: Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Syncro, No Flash
Flash Range: 2.9m
Shooting Modes: Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Twilight using a tripod, Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Portrait
Maximum Movie Resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels
Maximum Movie Frames Per Second: 30 fps
Maximum Movie Duration: To capacity of memory card
Macro Focus: 8cms
Metering: Multi Pattern, Centre weighted, Spot
ManualControls: None
Image Stabilisation: Yes
Lens Converters: No
Self Timer: 10 seconds or 2 seconds
Video Out (TV Playback): Yes
Computer Connection: Yes
Batteries: Lithium ion
Dimensions: 93.6 x 57.2 x 15mm
Weight: 128g

all in all, i just loveeee this piece of tech so much haha

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dad and my aunt Connie (dad’s younger sister) up front

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cousin Julian whom i haven’t seen for almost 2 months like that
he’s 16 and taller than 20 year old me ady :(

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was great seeing grandma again, isn’t she just beautiful? :]
but the sad part was she didn’t remember who i was
can’t blame her tho, i haven’t visited her in a long time and with age, Alzheimer's creeping in real quickly
least she still remembers her own younger sister and children :]
sadly, i was mostly quiet in one corner tho, cause everyone else was speaking Foochow and i’m sure most of everyone knows how unFoochow-ish i am eventho i’m pure Foochow

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yeah, i’m the odd one out heh

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Julian’s mostly quiet but definitely loud and cheery around his close friends
he studies under soft lighting (which is bad for the eyes) and honestly, i don’t really know much about him cause i don’t keep in touch with him and all
bad momo
but otherwise, he’s a really nice and subtle person chat fun poking with

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lovin’ the camera!

the camera comes with a free 4GB memory stick duo, free leather a camera case, a free 10cm tall tripod, a free mp3 player (with a top up of only RM29) and a lovely small fold-up box thingie that looks like this
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its flat like this and you
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open it up and prop it like this
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and then you turn it over and zip the bottom, letting it take a cubic shape like this
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check out inside where there’s a piece that partitions the box
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that uses buttons like this
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  and by zipping the top, voila!  

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these would be how the macro and stuff looks like
you judge :]

owh, and i also bought a couple more pairs of long Johns, more medicine, had a great time chatting with my aunt about my family’s background and even got my International Student Identification Card registered and done :]
all packed and ready to go… i think

Friday, September 11, 2009

preparation Michigan :]

me went, me saw, me likey!

t’was the time to pack for MIchigan, and it was only 3 days before i flew off to the USA that i only seriously started packing
sooooooooooooooooooooo many stuff!!

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coughing face mask, small stationary bag, big stationary bag (from Emandy :] ), small Public bank Malaysian flag dad insisted i bring, tissue packs, earphones, earphone+microphone, rechargeable batteries, memory stick, extra phone batt, bag of medicine (panadol, acti-fast, flu, sore throat, diarrhea), marble piece i really like, both external hard drives, bakuteh packets, comp reboot disc, i kissed dating goodbye by joshua harris, boy meets girl by joshua harris, leather gloves, ear muffs, sensodyne for my sensitive teeth, memory card reader, calculator, letterpad, bible, notebook, cotton pads, international locks, Cyber Clean cleaning goo (REALLLY useful for computer cleaning!!), chopsticks, both shavers, extra shaving razors for both types, extra adidas shoelaces, extra toothbrush, chest x-ray, chopsticks, both belts, facial wipes, hand wipes, Redoxon vitamin C tablets, international all purpose adapter, Cetaphil facial wash, Neo Strata facial wipes, contact lens, contact lens solution, plasters, eye drops, glasses case, tweezers, dental floss, deodorant, moisturizing skin lotion, torchlight, hand sanitizers, mp3 player

not so much lah hoh…

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winter jacket, both sling bags (long one and tall one), tie rack, white and black skinny tie, electric blue medium sized tie, soft Christmasy blue wide tie, blackish brown medium sized tie, purple striped and black flowery silk medium sized tie from UK, sleeveless sweater, singlet, new socks (formal and sports), old socks, winter socks, 2 face towels, t-shirts (collared and normal), long Johns, boxers and shorties, black Nike cap, short sleeping pants, beach pants, shorts, 3 quarter shorts, cargo pants, jeans, BLANKEY! and beanie - gotta love this one the most hey :] so comfy!

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striped white long sleeved, striped blue short sleeve, black striped white long sleeve, full white long sleeve, vest, 2 slacks, 2 formal coats

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and i can never ever forget my trusty pair of jeans i wore all the way to Michigan haha

come to think of it, i’ve never posted any pictures of my room before, most was only a pic of my study table heh
so know yer’self out with them pics below heh

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book shelf that held many different cycles of books and ornaments throughout high school and part of college
see the drawn pic of me on the top left? ahahaha!

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the stash of junk that somehow complied itself onto the HUGE box FULL off nearly 3000 comic books i accumulated during my high school days
i NEED to get rid of them comics laaa, wanna buy? really.

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photo shoot prep haha

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my room’s a four by four metre cubicle
so yeah, it’s kinda small
i’d presonally prefer a larger room, but its been sufficient so far thruout these years

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back then, the WHOLE wall section in my room was covered with posters of anime and manga ahahah
was pretty hardcore then until i got sick of it

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half the clothes in my closet are…
not mine but dad’s
really old clothes that won’t fit me anymore
old clothes that still fit but looks really ugly
new clothes (gifts) i’ve NEVER worn before because they’re not my size but larger and makes me look like a really short person when i wear them and they’re ugly
clothes passed on to my from dad but i don’t like them
clothes that i wore too often till it got worn out
basically, i don’t wear or own more than half the clothes in my closet

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one thing i’ll miss most about my room would be my personal library
these are books i’ve accumulated through the years starting from when i was 14 years old
it’s not enough but books in M’sia is expensiveeeeee!

each level of the shelf houses 2 rows of books!!

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Charmed – The Legacy of Merlin
            - The Power of Three
        - Kiss of Darkness
          - The Crimson Spell
                   - Whispers from the Past
    - Voodoo Moon
           - Haunted by Desire
               - The Legacy of Merlin
The Mediator – Shadowland
                 - Ninth Key
               - Reunion
                       - Darkest Hour
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Mortal Fear
                                        - Obsidian Fate
                                                        - The Lost Slayer Book 1-4
Ford – Maker of the Model T
Circle of Three – So More It Be
                    - Merry Meet
                      - Second Sight
Smallville – Book 6 Buried Secrets
Encounter’s with UFOs
The Fallen – The Fallen
        - Aerie
               - Leviathan
                - Reckoning

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Psychic Phenomena
Chicken Soup for the Country Music’s Soul
Chopsticks Recipes Dim Sum
My Heart Cries Home
Darren Shan Saga (Book 1-12) (MUST READ)
Harry Potter full series

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Pendragon – Book 8 Pilgrims of Rayne
Magic the Gathering – Rath and Storm
                                     - The Colors of Magic
                                     - The Myths of Magic
                                        - The Dragons of Magic
                                         - The Monsters of Magic
                                  - Masquerade Cycle
                       - The Thran
                             - Invasion Cycle
                                      - Magic Legends Cycle
                             - Miroddin Cycle
                                        - Kamigawa Cycle (fav)
                                  - Time Spiral Cycle
                                                - Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Cycle 
                                                                     (quadrology)
(each cycle = trilogy)

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Queen of the Slayers
Samurai Girl – Book of the Sword
                      - Book of the Shadow
                  - Book of the Pearl
                  - Book of the Wind
Green Lantern – Hero’s Quest
Haunted
Dave Pelzer’s – A Child Named “It” (MUST READ)
           - The Lost Boy (MUST READ)
                     - A Man Named Dave (MUST READ)
Darren Shan’s Demonata Saga – Lord Loss (MUST READ)
                                                  - Demon Thief (MUST READ)
                                          - Slawter (MUST READ)
                                     - Bec (MUST READ)
                                                - Blood Beast (MUST READ)
                                                  - Demon Apocalypse (MUST 
                       READ)
                                                       - Death’s Shadow (MUST READ)
                                                - Wolf Island (MUST READ)
                                                  - Dark Calling (MUST READ)
Pendragon – Book 1 Merchant of Death
                    - Book 2 The Lost City of Faar
           - Book 3 The Never War
            - Book 4 The Reality Bug
       - Book 5 Black Water
                   - Book 6 The Rivers of Zadaa
          - Book 7 Quillan Games
Smallville – Book 1 Arrival
                      - Book 2 See No Evil

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James Patterson’s The Lake House (MUST READ)
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (MUST READ)
Temple of the Winds
Magic the Gathering – Onslaught Cycle (first 2 books)
The Keys to the Kingdom – Mister Monday
                                    - Grim Tuesday
                                           - Drown Wednesday
                                   - Sir Thursday
                                 - Lady Friday
The Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
Ayako Miura’s Shiokari Pass
Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife (MUST READ)
Cecelia Ahern’s Ps. I Love You (MUST READ)
Dan Brown - Digital Fortress (MUST READ)
              - Da Vinci Code (MUST READ)
Ann Brashares’ The Last Summer (of You and Me)
Forgotten Realms – Shandril’s Saga
Raymond E. Feist’s Magician (MUST READ)
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (MUST READ)

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A Life God’s Rewards for Teens
Dan Brown – Angels and Demons (MUST READ)
           - Deception Point (MUST READ)
Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only
Charles and Diana: A Royal Romance
Nevil Shute’s Most Secret
Armageddon: Oil and the Middle East Crisis
The World’s Best Jokes
Diana Wynne Jones – The Magicians of Caprona
                        - The Merlin Conspiracy
T.A. Baron – The Lost Years of Merlin
                    - The Seven Songs of Merlin
         - The Fires of Merlin
           - The Mirror of Merlin
Christopher Paolini – Eragon
                           - Eldest
Chronicles of Narnia (full) (MUST READ)
James Patterson - When The Wind Blows (MUST READ)
                            - Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
                             - Maximum Ride: School’s Out – Forever
Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie
The Brother’s Grimm – Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Dorren Wayne’s Love is a Well-Raped World
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Wicked Willow I & II

and this is where i keep most of my haven’t-come-round-to-read books

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Pendragon – Book 9 Raven Rise
                         - Book 10 Heroes of Halla
Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper
Oscar Wilde’s The Potrait of Dorian Gray
Nathaniel Hawthrone’s The Scarlet Letter
Robert T. Kiyosaki - Retire Young Retire Rich
                    - Cashflow Quadrant
                     - Rich Dad, Poor Dad
                                             - For People Who Like Helping People
                        - Who Took My Money?
The Art of the First Date
David Pawson’s The Road to Hell
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian
The Rough Guide to Drums
Dr. Tim Elmore’s Habitudes Book 2 & 3
Elaine Rhoton’s The Doulos Story
Scripture Union’s Asian Notes: A Year’s Devotional Bible Reading

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Tim and Beverly LaHaye’s Party for Two
Gary Chapman’s – The Five Love Languages Men’s Edition
The Case for the Creator *read* (MUST READ)
Beverly LaHaye’s The Joy of Marriage God’s Way
John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart
Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Stories for a Teen’s Heart Book 2 & 3 *read*

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The Rough Guide to the Da Vinci Code
Knowing Aslan *read*
Hellgate London – Book 3 Covenant
(book 1 and 2 has been with JAMES CHAI CHUNG ZENG for almost 2 YEARS ALREADY. QUICKLY finish both books and pass it to my bro BEFORE i come home CAN OR NOT?)
man, last i checked on my books at his place, they were under a pile of stuff on his table and it actually gathered dust and cobwebs. a bit angry ady lo then haihhh
R.A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt – Homeland, Exile and Sojourn

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what’s more saddening than James borrowing my books and NEVER reading them with insistence that he will (which i really think is bullshit) in which he probably won’t give them back until another 2-3 years…
is that the humidity in my room’s pretty bad and the pages of the books become yellow with color and spots :(

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and on mom’s insistence, we both went and bought a lot of Sarawakian souvenirs to bring over to Michigan to bless people with :]

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i personally bought the toothed necklace from Sabah a few years back for myself but decided to add it into the pile

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when i saw this, i thought to myself, “i am gonna use this beaded bracelet to bless some little girl’s life!!”
well, if i don’t get to touch a lil’ girl’s life, i’ll just give it to the girls my age in Michigan then :]

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specifically chose something with “Borneo” on it cause… you know why haha

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headhunters!

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naw, i didn’t bring this
it’s too precious to me cause a Kayan friend personally gave it to me after NS finished
thanks Daniel Dian

so i managed to stuff allllll those stuff and a few more other stuff into my 2 bags and it was 35.7kg in total
not bad for my first studying abroad trip ey?